I'll Look After You
by xKittyKAT18x
Summary: You’re my best friend. I know I can tell you anything and you wouldn’t judge me. You’d just listen. But I can’t tell you this. I can’t let anything bad happen.'
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: This is my first story. I decided that since I've reviewed a bunch of stories that I should post one of my own. Please read and review. Constructive criticism is welcome. As long as you don't say that the story sucks or that I'm a horrible writer, I'll be happy with any review. So please read and review, and I hope you like my story.

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Prologue

2 months before "High School Musical" takes place

"_Please, no. . . . no more, please!" she begged relentlessly, but to no avail. He continued his advances toward her, smiling a smile that to any other person would seem warm and comforting, but to her, this was the same smile that haunted her every night. She felt tears welling up in her eyes, there was nothing she could do. Self-consciously she pulled the blanket up over her head, childishly hoping that the blanket would work as a shield._

_"Come on now," he said, "be a good girl and pull that cover down. I want to see your beautiful face."_

_She could sense that he was hovering by the bedside, expecting her to comply. She held her breath and closed her eyes, wishing him away. In the next moment the blanket was forcibly pulled out of her grasp. She kept her eyes closed for a few seconds, but then opened them to find his dark green eyes staring back at her, inches away from her face. He then placed his hand over her mouth and whispered, "Sshhh . . . you don't want to wake your parents do you?" he paused, "you remember what I said would happen if you told anyone don't you?"_

_She nodded, a tear streaming down her cheek. He wiped it away gently, "It's okay, baby, don't cry. I'm not doing this to hurt you. You and me . . . we have something special you know. I love you, and I just want to show you how much I love you. You know that, don't you?"_

_She nodded again. He removed his hand from her mouth and pressed his lips against hers, forcing his tongue inside her mouth. He reached down and fumbled with his belt buckle, then, unzipped his jeans and worked them off. He then began to work on her jeans. She whimpered, and, escaping from his kiss, pleaded once more. He just shook his head no as he began sliding her jeans down her legs. She closed her eyes and tried to make her mind go someplace else; for she knew there was nothing else she could try to do._

_Seemingly hours later, he began to put his clothes back on. He went over by the bed and kissed her on the cheek. He walked over to the door and opened it as silently as possible before he turned back to her and whispered, "Remember," he said quietly but forcefully, "it's our little secret."_

_She nodded and he shut the door and tiptoed back off to his room. As soon as the door was closed, she began shaking uncontrollably. She heard a voice calling to her as she was heading for light._

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"Are you okay?" a concerned voice asked. She began to stir. A hand was gently pushing on her arm. Her heart was racing, her breathing was unsteady. The shaking finally started to subside. "Are you okay?" the voice asked, "come on, wake up."

She slowly sat up and opened her tired eyes. _It was a dream_. She thought relieved. She was in school, she was safe. She remembered she was in the library, she was a peer tutor, and was supposed to help students with their homework.

"Are you okay?" the voice asked again.

"Yes, I'm fine." She said nicely but assertively. She looked up to see who had woken her from her nightmare, and found herself staring into a pair of beautiful, deep blue eyes. "I'm so sorry, do you need help?" she asked.

"No, not really," he said, "it's just you were scaring me, I thought you would fall out of the seat and hit your head, you were shaking like crazy."

"Oh, well thanks." She said sweetly.

"Were you having a nightmare or something?" he asked.

"Or something," she replied smiling.

He smiled back, "Anything you want to talk about?"

"Not really, but thanks for asking," she paused before asking, "You sure you don't need help with anything?"

He looked down at his trigonometry book and sighed. "Actually, if you could explain how to graph the six trigonometric functions, that would be really nice."

"Of course." She responded. He smiled appreciatively and took the seat next to her. As she took time to explain the process to him, he noticed that not only was she beautiful and intelligent, she was also sweet and caring. He was amazed that she never seemed to get irritated with him, even though she probably had to repeat herself about a million times before he was fully able to understand. She didn't judge him or make fun of him. He didn't know if he could say the same thing about his friends.

**TBC**


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: I know a bunch of people read the first chapter, but there was only two reviews. So please, if you read this chapter, review. I don't care what you say, if you thought it was so bad that it almost made your eyes bleed, tell me. If you're confused as to what's going on, ask me. I know I can be confusing. I don't know if this chapter explains what the story is about. What happened in the beginning of the prologue is what the story is about, indirectly anyway.

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Chapter 1

Beginning of 11th grade

**Tuesday, September 5, 2006**

_Troy has been acting weird lately._ Chad thought as Troy walked right on past him in the hall without so much as a glance his way. Chad and the rest of his friends watched as Troy made his way over to a girl's locker.

Troy walked in the school that morning and immediately headed for her locker. He hadn't been able to talk to her all weekend – she was out of town to go to her cousin's wedding in California. He didn't pay any attention that Chad and the rest of his friends were staring at him as he snuck up on her and covered her eyes.

"Guess who?" he asked, lowering his voice.

She smiled and answered, "Danni?"

"Nope,"

"Sam?"

"Guess again."

"Nikki?"

"Come on, now." Troy said, "It's the man you love?"

"Oh," she smiled, "Andrew?" Troy didn't answer. "Jeremy? Jeff? James?"

"Okay," Troy interrupted, "that's officially not funny anymore."

She turned to face him and saw him pouting. "Come on, baby, I'm just playing. You know you're the only one for me." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips. He returned the kiss and deepened it. They broke apart and he smiled down at her. "Have you got your schedule change yet?" he asked.

She reached back into her locker and pulled out a piece of paper. "Yessir, it's right here," she said as she handed the folded piece of paper to him. He opened it up and looked it over. "You're in my gym class now." He said.

"Yeah, and your dad's the teacher," she said with a sigh.

"So?" Troy asked.

"So, he scares me," she answered, "I don't think he likes me very much."

"Who cares what he thinks?"

"I don't care, really," she said, "it's just, he always glares at me. He can make my life a living hell if he thinks I'm a bad influence on you."

He took her face in his hands. "I won't let him do anything to you." She smiled and kissed him again just as the bell rang. He took her hand and they headed to class together.

"Well, that was . . ." Chad said while he and his friends were walking to gym class, after having seen Troy's little spectacle.

"Surprising." Taylor finished.

"More like weird." Jason added.

"I didn't know they were dating." Zeke said.

"Don't feel bad, Zeke, none of us did." Chad responded.

"What does he see in her anyway?" Sharpay asked in disgust, "Isn't she a freakin' pothead or something?"

"I don't know about that," Taylor said, "she's in my history class, her name is Joey de la Rosa. She seems like she's smarter than that."

"She's beautiful, and if she makes him happy then he deserves her." Gabriella added quietly.

"You're okay with this?" Sharpay asked shocked.

"Why wouldn't I be? Troy and I never went out or anything." Gabriella answered.

"Because he led you on, made you feel like he liked you just as much you liked him, and he hasn't said more than ten words to you since the musical ended." Ryan said.

"It's not his fault, he didn't know." Gabriella defended Troy.

"It's all her fault! She's the reason he's changed so damn much!" Sharpay practically shrieked.

"Everyone calm down!" Chad demanded, "We've got to get to gym. I'll try to talk to Troy later and see if I can get him to tell me what's been going on with him."

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Jack Bolton didn't know what to think when he saw his son enter the gymnasium. Troy was smiling and holding the hand of a girl that he had never seen before. She was short with an athletic body and medium length chocolate brown hair and amazing emerald-green eyes. She was beautiful, she was tan-skinned and the only make-up she wore was eyeliner and lip gloss. She was wearing a pair of tattered jeans and one of Troy's shirts that Troy swore he couldn't find. Troy kissed her on the cheek before they departed to their separate locker rooms to change for class, just as Jack was about to approach the young couple.

Chad had just walked out of the boys' locker room when Troy walked past him. He was about to turn around to confront Troy, but he was stopped by none other than Coach Bolton.

"Do you know who that girl is that Troy came in here with?" he asked.

"Her name is Joey," Chad responded.

"I don't believe I have anyone by that name in this class," Jack said as he flipped through his class roster, "oh, wait a minute, would that be Josephine de la Rosa?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, that's her." Chad answered.

"It seems that she just got transferred into this class," he said and paused before asking, "Is Troy going out with her?"

"Unless Troy goes around school kissing random girls now, then, yeah, I'd say they're going out," Chad said.

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Coach Bolton blew the whistle and ordered Jason and Zeke to lead the class in calisthenics. After fifteen minutes of this, Coach blew the whistle again and the students gathered around him to hear the instructions.

"Alright class, today we will be playing touch football outside. But before we head out, you need to pick teams. Chad, you're the captain of team one, and Troy, you're the captain of team two. Start picking your teams now," Coach instructed, "Chad you go first."

"Jason." Chad called out.

"Joey." Troy called when his turn came around.

"Zeke."

"Ryan."

"Sharpay."

"Nikki."

"Taylor."

"Jeremy."

"Lucas."

"Sam."

"Gabriella."

"Jeff."

"Alright now, captains come over here and we'll have the coin toss." Coach Bolton ordered, "Chad, call it in the air."

"Heads."

Coach Bolton caught the coin in the air and flipped it over on his arm. "It's tails," he looked at Troy, "Do you want to kick-off or return?"

"We'll return," Troy chose.

Troy and Joey had already planned many of the plays that they were going to use during this game. They had played all kinds of sports when he was over at her house and he knew what her signals meant.

Joey caught the kick-off and ran along the left side. Troy was by her side, blocking anyone who tried to get to her. They were too fast for everyone on Chad's team, and before you knew it, the score was 6-0 – seconds later Jeff scored the extra point and the score was now 7-0.

Troy's team began the drive. He looked over at Joey and saw that she was biting her nail. Troy nodded in return and began the play. He faked a pass to the right at Jeremy and headed to the left. When Troy was about to be tackled, he passed it over everyone's head and straight to the middle of the field where it was caught by a speeding Joey – who no one on Chad's team had even tried to block – and she sprinted the remaining 78 yards for the touchdown.

"Coach, I swear Troy and Joey are reading each other's minds." Chad called as Joey did a victory dance in the end zone.

"Now Chad, how could we possibly do that?" Troy asked mockingly.

Joey stifled a giggle as she handed the ball over to Coach Bolton.

After several offensive drives by both teams, the game ended with a score of 42-10, in favor of Troy's team. Coach Bolton told the students to go get changed, but asked Joey to stay for a moment. Chad headed off for the locker room, but stayed out of sight and within earshot to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Have you considered trying out for the powder puff team, Joey?" Coach Bolton asked.

She shook her head.

"You should," he told her, "you have incredible speed and talent for reading the game and knowing what plays to make."

She smiled and answered, "I don't know about that, I just have an incredible talent of reading Troy's signals silently."

"I noticed your signals earlier," he said, "have you two played together before?"

"Oh, yeah, Troy comes over to my house after school all the time and we'll play football or basketball in my backyard after we finish our homework."

"Oh," Coach responded, somewhat dumbfounded from this new information of his son's whereabouts after school. He had always assumed that Troy was over at one of his friend's house – such as Chad, Zeke, or Jason. "Well, you should really consider joining the team, you'd be a great asset," he paused for a moment, "You should go get changed now, sorry to keep you so long."

"No problem, coach," she said, and before she walked off she added, "And I will think about joining the team." She smiled and then turned and started jogging toward the girls' locker room.

_Troy goes to her house all the time? _Coach and Chad both thought at the same time.

**TBC**

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-Some of you may be mad that Troy and Gabriella are not together. Sorry.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I'm going to explain about the musical. At my school, we don't have pair auditions, and that's how I wrote this. So Troy and Gabriella still met at the ski lodge, and they auditioned for Arnold and Minnie (or whatever the names are) individually. Just thought I would explain that in case you were confused. Thank you so much to those who reviewed the last two chapters, and please review this one too.**

**Disclaimer: I realized I forgot to put one of these for the last two chapters. So just to clarify things, I do not own High School Musical or any of the actors in it. Let's face it, if I owned guys like Zac Efron and Corbin Bleu, I would not spend my time on the internet. lol.

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Chapter 2

"_You know what you have to do," the man ordered the woman sitting across the table from him. _

_"I don't appreciate being told what to do." The woman said in a menacing tone as she took another sip of her wine, "I want to be able to choose . . ."_

_"You know why it has to be him." The man roared, interrupting her. "We need to find out what she's told him about me."_

_"Well, if you could keep it in your pants, then this wouldn't be an issue, would it?" she snapped._

_"Look who's talking. Besides, what you've done in the past and what you're about to do now is completely different than what she and I do together."_

_"Oh, really," she responded, "please enlighten me."_

_"I love her. You just want the sex." He sneered._

_"Maybe so," she replied, "but I'm a woman. I can't physically force anyone to anything with me. But you . . . you overpower a defenseless little girl."_

_He didn't answer, he just sat there seething. "And besides," the woman continued, "What if she hasn't told him anything?"_

_"Then just keep him distracted. I can't have him in my way anymore."_

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Jack got home from work the day he found out about Troy's new girlfriend at around 6:00. He immediately headed up to his son's room. He knocked on his door. "Troy," he called out.

"Door's open!" Troy called.

He opened the door to find Troy lying on his stomach on his bed, and Joey was beside him. He stared at them long enough that Troy decided to say, "We're just doing homework, Dad."

"That's fine," he said, "I need to talk to you, Troy."

"Alright, shoot."

"Alone . . . I think you and Joey have seen enough of each other for one day."

"But, Dad . . ."

"It's okay, Troy," Joey interrupted as she gathered up her books. She threw her book bag over her shoulder and headed for the door. "See you later, Coach." She started out the door, but Troy followed her.

"I'll walk you to the door," he said. When they got to the door he opened it for her and said, "I'm sorry about my dad."

"It's fine Troy, really," she said, "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

He nodded and smiled down at her and kissed her before she headed home. He stomped back upstairs to his room where his dad was waiting for him.

"What the hell was that Dad?" Troy screamed.

"What the hell do you expect me to do, Troy? You haven't been yourself for the past eight months – you're never home, you don't hang out with your old friends, AND you don't tell anyone that you've been seeing that girl."

"That girl," Troy snapped, "that girl is my girlfriend, and you have no right to make her leave!"

"I don't want you to see her anymore," Mr. Bolton said, "I believe she may be a bad influence on you."

"Dad . . ." Troy started.

"Chad told me about her," Mr. Bolton continued, "He said that supposedly she's into drugs. I don't want you around someone like that."

"And how would Chad know that?" Troy snapped, "She doesn't do drugs, she never has done drugs. Maybe Chad and everyone else should stop judging people before they know them!"

"Then what has gotten into you Troy. If she hasn't changed you, then what has? Please, tell me!" Jack begged.

"Don't you get it? I just got tired of everyone's bullshit – everyone judging every move you make. Everyone had something to say about me being in the musical. Joey was the one who encouraged me to audition. She's the only person I've ever known who never judges anyone."

Jack sighed and reached out to Troy, but he pulled away. "Troy, why couldn't you talk to me about this?"

"Because you do the same thing! You're always pushing basketball on me! Did you ever think that maybe I don't want the same things that you do?" Troy headed down the stairs toward the door. Jack chased after him. Troy opened the door and began to run.

"Troy!" Jack called, "Troy, get back here!" He started to run after him, but he realized Troy was way too fast for him.

The house where Troy was running to was four blocks away. It normally would have taken him ten minutes to get there, but today he ran there in about five minutes. He ran up to the porch but stopped before he knocked on the door, he had to catch his breath. He knocked on the door with his right hand, while holding his stomach with his left. The door opened and the woman standing inside said, "Hello, Troy. Is everything okay?"

"Can I come in Nina?"

"Sure."

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"What's the matter Troy?" Nina asked as she ushered Troy into her home and onto the couch in the living room.

"I . . . I just had a fight with my dad . . . and . . . I kind of ran away," Troy said between breaths, "I'm sorry . . . I just didn't know . . . where else to go."

"That's fine, Troy," Nina responded, "You know you're always welcome here."

He smiled. "Thanks."

Nina noticed that Troy was still breathing very heavily, so she asked, "Would like some water or something?"

"Yeah, thanks."

Nina headed for the kitchen, but stopped when a voice called out, "Mom, who was at the door?"

Nina's daughter came down the stairs and saw Troy sitting on the couch. She hurried next to him. "Troy, what are you doing here? Is everything alright? Why are you breathing so heavily?"

"Calm down Joey, I'm fine," Troy said reassuringly, "I just had a little fight with my dad, that's all."

"Are you sure?" Joey asked with concern. Troy simply nodded. "Okay, then," she answered and kissed him on the cheek as she curled up next to him.

"Do you want anything to drink Joey?" her mom asked, "I was just about to get Troy a glass of water."

"Yeah, I'll have water too,"

After Nina had left the room, Troy decided to tell Joey what had happened. "After you left, I got in a fight with my dad." He paused for a moment to look at her - she just smiled and motioned for him to continue when he was ready. "He was blaming all the changes in me on you. He didn't want me to be with you anymore because he heard that you did drugs. And then I just lost it. I screamed at him for like ten minutes before I stormed out of the house."

"I don't see why it's so hard for him to understand that people like him and Chad and everyone else who always judge people are the reason that I've changed. I just couldn't stand it anymore." Troy continued.

"I know baby," she said, "It's good that you got it all out, you've been keeping it inside for months."

Nina was in the kitchen for several minutes. It shouldn't take that long to get two glasses of water, since all she had to do was to put the glass under the water dispenser on the refrigerator. Troy's breathing was still unsteady-he really needed something to drink, so Joey decided to go check on her mom. When she entered the kitchen, she saw that her mom was on the phone.

"Yes, you're welcome Mr. Bolton, see you in a few minutes, bye bye," her mom said quietly into the phone. She then went to the cupboard to grab a couple of glasses.

"Mom, why did you just call Mr. Bolton?" Joey asked, startling her mother, nearly causing her to drop the glasses that she held in her hands.

"Oh, Joey, you scared me," she responded.

"That doesn't answer my question," Joey retorted, "Why did you just get off the phone with Troy's dad?"

"Joey, you couldn't possibly expect me to not call his dad and let him know that his son was ok? I would hope he would do the same thing if you ran off like that."

Troy heard the two female voices inside the kitchen rise. Joey's voice was angry. "This isn't about me!" she said, trying to restrain herself from screaming, "He obviously doesn't want to be around his dad right now, or he wouldn't have came here, he would have just locked himself in his room!"

"Josephine, be reasonable now," her mother said, "If he was to call the police and report him as a runaway, I could be arrested."

Joey snorted in response. "He's been gone, for what, thirty minutes tops. I don't think it's that big of a deal."

"Well, it doesn't matter anymore because he is already on his way over here to pick him up." Joey, finally giving up, snatched a glass out of her mother's hands and filled it up with ice cold water. "You could have at least brought his water out to him before you went off and called his dad," she paused, "Besides, you know that Troy wouldn't run away. He just needed time away from his father . . . I could have drove him back home when he was ready," she said as she pushed the door open into the living room.

Troy heard her coming back into the living room and immediately backed away from the wall and headed for the couch. She sat next to him and handed him the glass. "I know you were listening."

He gave her a cheeky smile. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," she said, "I'm not mad."

There was a silence for a few minutes before Troy spoke up again. "So, my dad's coming to get me?"

"Yeah," she responded, "I'm sorry my mom called, I tried to talk to her, but she just doesn't get it."

"It's fine, I understand." He said as he pulled her close and kissed her on the nose.

Nina stood in the doorway and watched as the young couple talked to each other. She understood why her daughter was upset with her, but there wasn't anything she could do about it. She knew she did the right thing – calling Troy's dad. She and her husband Mario, who is currently serving in the Marines over in Iraq, have known Troy's parents for more than twenty years, although they haven't spoken much in the last five years.

Nina used to work with Troy's mother Melinda at Toyota-where they were both sales representatives-until Melinda got offered a job at Motorola as an assistant manager. Nina still works at Toyota and is now the Head of Marketing and Advertising, needless to say, they both are making big bucks now.

Nina has always thought that Troy would be a great boyfriend for her daughter. While they were working at Toyota together, Nina and Melinda both had babies within a few months of each other; Joey was born on September 18, 1989, and Troy was born on January 7, 1990. While Joey and Troy were toddlers, Nina and Melinda set up many play dates them, and they remained pretty close until they were about seven, when they seemingly just drifted apart.

After that, Joey started hanging out with some people who were not the best influence on her. Now she never did anything stupid, like drugs, but she became more rude and disrespectful. When she was started high school, Nina noticed that Joey had started to become depressed. She didn't like to do the things that she used to love to do-swim, play music, play tennis; etc.-she slept all the time. She would come after school, do her homework, and be in bed at about six. She hardly ate anymore either. Nina thought it was because of Joey's boyfriend at the time, but she never knew for sure.

But when she started going with Troy, she did a complete turnaround. She was always smiling; she began to do the things she loved again. Troy had changed her, and she was very grateful to him for that. She even insisted that he call her Nina, not Mrs. De La Rosa. She hated to call his dad when she knew that he wanted to be away from him right now. But she couldn't let his parents just sit there and worry about him, having no idea where he could be. It was the right thing to do.

Jack Bolton arrived at the de la Rosa house about twenty minutes after his conversation with Mrs. De la Rosa. Before he even got to the porch, Nina had already opened the door for him.

"Thanks for calling, Nina," Jack stated.

"No problem, Jack," she responded, "He's in the living room with Joey." She pointed the way to the living room. Jack walked into the living room and saw Troy sitting on the couch beside Joey, her head resting on his shoulder.

Jack cleared his throat. The two teenagers looked up at him. "Troy," he said, "we need to go."

Before he got up, Troy took another sip of his water, and gave Joey another kiss goodbye. He trudged behind his father, entering the car slowly. In reality, the drive home only took about five minutes, but to both men, it felt like an eternity. Jack slowly drove the car into the garage, parked, and turned off the ignition. After moments of awkward silence, Troy reached for the door. Jack grabbed Troy's shoulder lightly. "Wait, Troy."

"I'm sorry." Troy said quickly.

"What?"

"I'm sorry I ran away like that," he said.

"I'm not mad," Jack said.

This took Troy by surprise. "You're not?"

"No," Jack said, "and if anyone should be sorry, it's me."

Troy didn't respond, he just sat there dumbfounded. "I'm sorry that you didn't feel that you could tell me how you were feeling, the pressure that I put on you."

"Dad, I didn't mean . . ."

"No, it's okay, Troy, don't apologize. I was out of line, saying that she was a bad influence on you, and I'm sorry."

"Dad . . ."

"Just promise me something," he paused, Troy nodded in response. "Promise me that from now on, you'll tell me about your problems. I know I might not be as easy to talk to as Joey is, but I can help," he paused again before continuing, "I just want to know what's going on with you, that you're okay. We used to be able to talk like that."

"I know Dad," Troy said quietly, "I'll try to talk to you more, I promise."

**TBC

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This chapter was mainly just to give some background information. If you have any suggestions to improve my writing, or any comments about the story at all, please review.


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Please Review**

**Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical.

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Chapter 3

**Friday, September 22, 2006**

"Have fun in Latin sweetie," Joey whispered to Troy before they headed for their separate classes.

Troy entered the classroom and saw that all the seats had already been filled, except for one by Chad and his old friends. He reluctantly dropped his books on the desk and took his seat.

"Why is everyone in here already?" Troy asked, "The late bell hasn't even ringed yet."

"The new teacher starts today," Zeke chimed in.

"Yeah, and she's really hot," Jason said.

"She's a teacher," Troy said, "she can't be that hot."

"On the contrary, Troy," Zeke said, "just wait 'til you see her. She's definitely got that hot blonde slash model thing going on."

"Whatever."

"Well, anything would be better than have Mr. Matsui babysitting us anymore." Chad said. Zeke nodded in agreement.

Just before the bell rang, Mr. Matsui opened the door to the classroom and led in the woman who was to be the new the Latin teacher. She was in her late twenties, almost thirty. She was tall, 5'10'' to be exact, with long lean legs that the skirt she was wearing fully accentuated. Several boys in the class wolf whistled as she strode by their desks.

"That's enough." Mr. Matsui said, "As you know, Mrs. Smith decided to retire over the summer, and this is her replacement, Miss Hammond," Mr. Matsui paused before heading for the door, "Well, I won't be bothering you any longer. Good luck, Miss Hammond." He said.

She smiled appreciatively as he left the room. "Alright, class, as you know by now, my name is Miss Hammond, but you can call me Miss H if you want," Miss Hammond said. She gathered up her class roster and said, "Let me take attendance so I can try to learn all your names." She glanced down the list and saw the name she was looking for. She was anxious to meet this student.

"Samantha Edwards?" she called.

"Here."

"Zeke Baylor?"

"Here."

"Nikki Larson?"

"Here."

"Chad Danforth?"

"Present."

"Troy Bolton?"

"Here."

"Crystal Mathews?"

"Here."

"Jeff Williams?"

"Present."

Miss Hammond continued this process with the remaining twelve students. She hardly paid any attention to which student was which; all she could do was stare into the blue eyes of a certain brown-haired student.

_What the hell is she staring at?_ Troy moodily thought. He stared back at her for awhile until he felt an uneasy feeling at the bottom of his stomach, which caused him to abruptly turn his head away and stare down at his hands. _I don't think she should be looking at me like that. _He thought.

Miss Hammond was disappointed when Troy turned away from her gaze. She wasn't able to admire his beautiful face anymore. _I need to think of a way to get him by himself._ She thought. Her mind was now filled with many ideas as of how to do this, but she finally settled on detention. She would give him a detention, but she couldn't do that today. She had to wait a while, she didn't want to seem like a bitch on her first day, otherwise some other students may become suspicious.

Before class was over, Miss Hammond announced to the class, "Alright class, the only thing I'm asking of you is to look over the words for the colors on page four by next class." The bell rang seconds later.

When the bell rang, Troy immediately jumped out of his seat and headed for the door. He had to get out of the classroom to shake that feeling that he felt deep down in his gut. He turned the corner outside of the classroom and shivered. He didn't know if he was just being paranoid or what, but that new teacher just made him feel violated.

Nevertheless, he decided that it was probably nothing, maybe he just reminded her of someone she once knew. He started to walk toward his locker to meet Joey, but he didn't hear that someone was calling his name.

"Troy!" Chad yelled, "Troy, I want to talk to you!" Troy never turned around, so Chad gave up. He didn't know if Troy just didn't hear him, or if he was ignoring him, but he decided to give up for today. He'd try to talk to him the next time they have Latin.

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It was lunch time. Chad sat with the usual bunch; Taylor, Gabriella, Jason, Zeke, Kelsi, Ryan, and Sharpay – after the musical, the group became good friends with Sharpay and Ryan. Troy was sitting at another table with Joey – today was the first day they have eaten lunch together in front of everyone.

"Have you talked to Troy yet?" Taylor asked Chad.

"No; I tried to after Latin today, but he didn't hear me." Chad said.

"Why don't you go talk to him now?" Ryan asked.

"Because, he's with Joey right now, and since she's one of the main things I want to talk to him about, I don't think he would like it very much if I went over there and hounded him about his girlfriend right in front of her." Chad said with an annoyed tone.

"I'll try to talk to him in Latin tomorrow," Chad continued, "I can't talk to him after school, because he always spends every spare minute with her, and I don't have any other classes with him besides Latin."

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Monday morning rolled around, and now it was time for Latin class. Troy took his normal seat by Chad. "Troy," Chad said, remembering that he promised his friends that he would try to talk to Troy today, "What's been up with you lately?"

"Nothing," Troy answered.

"Troy, would you please talk to me?" Chad implored.

"What do you call what we're doing right now?" Troy replied sarcastically.

"You know what I mean, Troy," Chad said, "Why didn't you tell anyone about you and Joey?"

"There was nothing to tell," Troy said.

"Nothing to tell," Chad said exasperatedly, "You mean, you didn't think you should tell your best friend that you have a girlfriend?"

"Our private life is none of your business," Troy responded nastily.

The bell rang and Miss Hammond walked into the classroom. "Alright class," she said, "Let's see how many of you actually did your assignment from the other day, but first let me take attendance."

"Troy," Chad murmured. Troy responded in a hushed voice, "Leave me alone, Chad. Class is about to start."

"Alright," Miss Hammond said as she closed her lesson plan book. She looked around the room to pick her first 'victim.'

"Zeke," Miss Hammond called, "what is the Latin word for red?"

"Troy," Chad whispered. Troy did not respond. "Troy," he whispered slightly louder, "I need to talk to you."

"Ruber," Zeke answered.

"Good job, Zeke," Miss Hammond said. She heard Chad whispering in the back of the class, but she didn't want to call him out on it until Troy started talking. "Samantha, what is word for white?"

"Troy," Chad continued to whisper, "why have you been ignoring all of us?"

Troy continued to ignore him.

"Albus, alba, album," Samantha answered.

"Very good," Miss Hammond said. "Let's see now," she paused, "Jeff, what is the word for blue?"

"Troy?" Chad continued to pester him. "Troy, answer me. Talk to me."

"Troy," he said again.

"Shut up Chad! Leave me alone!" Troy shouted, finally fed up with him.

Everyone in the class turned to see what was going on. "Troy, detention!" Miss Hammond ordered.

"What?" Troy asked incredulously.

"Do you want to make it two?" she asked. Troy stayed silent. "Alright, then," she continued, "Do not disrupt my class again."

Troy shot Chad a menacing glare as Miss Hammond continued with class.

**TBC**

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**The next chapter will pick up where this one left off. If I didn't separate it into two chapters it would have been one very long chapter. I don't really like the end of the this chapter, but it was the best place to cut off at**


	5. Chapter 4

**Thank you for the reviews!**

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own HSM.**

**This chapter continues where the last chapter left off.

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Chapter Four

When the dismissal bell rang, Troy immediately rushed out of the classroom before Chad could catch him. Or at least he tried.

"Troy," Chad called as he followed him down the hall. "Troy, I'm sorry, man."

Taylor and Gabriella saw Chad following an angry-looking Troy down the hall, so they followed them as well. As much as Troy wanted to get away from Chad, he had to go to his locker. So he stopped at his locker and began to work on the combination, even though he knew Chad was right behind him.

Troy threw open his locker and began to grab all the books that he needed. "Troy, I'm sorry," Chad said as he approached his locker.

"Don't talk to me Chad," Troy said spitefully.

"What's going on?" Gabriella asked as she and Taylor stood behind Chad.

"Troy has a detention with Ms. Hammond," Chad explained.

"And it's all his fault," Troy added.

Taylor smacked Chad on the arm and said, "What did you do? You were supposed to talk to him, not get him in trouble."

Chad rubbed the place on his arm where she had hit him. She actually hit him pretty hard. "That's what I was trying to do, but he wouldn't talk to me."

"I did talk to you before class started," Troy said.

"Yeah, well, you didn't answer my question though," Chad responded, "you just told me it was none of my business."

"Because it isn't," Troy said as he shut his locker.

"What's none of your business?" Joey asked as she came over to the group.

"Nothing," Chad murmured.

"Oh, come on, Chad," Troy mocked, "why don't you tell her how you were hounding me about her in Latin and how you got me in detention."

"You have detention?" Joey asked, surprised.

"Yeah, because I screamed at Chad because he wouldn't leave me the hell alone," Troy answered.

"I'm sorry," Chad said again.

"Whatever," Troy mumbled. "Let's go," he said to Joey as he took her hand in his and began walking down the hall.

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"What's going on with you and Chad?" Joey asked as she and Troy sat outside on a bench during their lunch break.

"Nothing,"

"Come on Troy, I know there must be something going on," she said, "How did he get you in to detention?"

"He wouldn't leave me alone," Troy started, "He was getting on my nerves so much that I couldn't control myself – I kind of screamed at him in the middle of class."

"What did he want to talk to you about?" Troy didn't answer. "He said you didn't answer his question."

Troy still didn't answer. "Troy, talk to me." She said with an irritated tone.

"It was nothing," he answered.

"If it was nothing," she responded, "then why won't you tell me?"

"Fine," he finally gave in, "it was mainly about you. Why didn't I tell anyone about you and me? Why was I ignoring them? Blah, blah, blah. I told him it was none of his business, but he just wouldn't let up."

"Well, why didn't Chad get a detention too?" she asked.

"I don't know," he answered, "I guess she didn't hear him."

"If he was whispering to you so much, it's very unlikely that she didn't hear him too."

Troy contemplated that for a moment, and then he felt a chill run up and down his spine. The feeling in the pit of his stomach returned. "What's wrong babe?" Joey asked, noticing this change in Troy.

"It's nothing," he responded. She looked him in the eyes, knowing that he couldn't look into her eyes and lie. He turned his head away.

"Troy?" she pleaded.

He looked back at her and started; "It's just . . ." he stopped. She motioned for him to continue. "It's just, I feel . . ."

"Yes?"

"Oh, never mind."

"Come on, Troy," she grabbed a hold of his hand.

"Forget it,"

"Troy . . ."

"Just drop it, Joey!" he snapped.

His outburst took her by surprise. She let go of his hands and folded them in her lap. She looked down at her hands. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too," he added after a few moments, "I'm just really pissed off right now, but I know that I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

The warning bell rang indicating that they only had a few minutes to get to their next class. "It's fine, I get it," she said as she stood up. "Do you want me to wait for you to get out of detention?"

"Nah," he said, "I'll just get a ride home from my dad."

"Okay, then," she answered, "See you later." He gave her a goodbye kiss as they headed for their separate classes across campus.

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_Okay, I'm just being paranoid. _Troy thought as he slowly walked to Ms. Hammond's classroom for detention after school. _I need to relax. Besides, what could possibly happen? I mean, we're in school for crying out loud, nothing bad could happen._

He was now standing in front of the classroom door. He slowly reached for the knob and opened the door, not noticing that Ms. Hammond was just a few steps behind him.

He walked in the room and noticed that Ms. Hammond was no where to be seen. That caused him to relax a little, but that didn't last long. Just as he was about to set his books down on a desk, he heard the door close. He spun around quickly just in time to see Ms. Hammond locking the door.

She smiled at him. "Hello, Troy."

"Uhm, hi," he said nervously. "Why did you lock the door?" he stuttered.

"No reason," she said in a nonchalant voice.

He gulped as she started to come near him. "So, Troy," she started, "how do you like my class so far?"

"It's okay," he mumbled. She continued her approach on him, he backed away. "Just okay?" she asked.

"It's fine," he said again, continuing his retreat. The next thing he knew he was falling to the ground – he had tripped over his own feet. Ms. Hammond rushed over to him and helped him to his feet.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, "Thanks."

They both stood there silently for what seemed like forever to Troy. He was feeling really uneasy. Their bodies were centimeters apart. Ms. Hammond seized this opportunity to close the distance between them. She leaned in to his face and pressed her lips against his. She tried to slip her tongue into his mouth, but Troy would not allow it. He pushed her away.

"What's the matter Troy?" she asked seductively, "I know you want me."

"No," Troy squeaked. He cleared his throat and tried again. "No, I don't," he said more assertively. "This is wrong. You're my teacher."

"There's nothing wrong with fulfilling a need, Troy," she said.

"I don't need this," he stated flatly, "I have a girlfriend."

She smirked. "Ah, yes, Joey isn't it?" she asked sarcastically.

"How do you know . . . .?"

"How I know her is not the issue here, Troy," she interrupted, "The issue is what will happen to her, your friends, and your family if you don't do what I want."

His eyes widened. "You can't do anything to them."

"I can and I will," she snapped. "Let's see," she said as she tapped her finger against her chin, as if she was thinking about something, "your mom works at Motorola, right? And Joey's mom works at Toyota, doesn't she? Well, let's just say that I have friends in high places."

Troy couldn't believe this. Who the hell was she and how did she know so much about him and his friends? She continued, "Oh, how about your friends? I can see them living on the street, poor, dirty. And you know what Troy; they'd blame it all on you. You'd have no friends left, your girlfriend would dump you, and your parents would disown you. Do you really want all that to happen Troy?"

He shook his head. "That's what I thought," she said with a satisfactory tone. The bell that indicated detention was finally over rang. "Oh, damn," she said, "I guess our time's up for today."

"I want to continue this tomorrow Troy," she demanded.

He subconsciously shook his head again. She lashed out and smacked him in the face – hard. He put his hand where she had hit him. "I will see you tomorrow Troy!" she practically screamed, "Have you already forgotten what I can do to your family and friends? Do you not believe me? Don't make me have to prove myself." She looked him in the eye. He could tell that she meant what she said.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow after school, right Troy?" she asked again.

This time he nodded. "Good," she paused, "you can leave now. But do not tell anyone about this." she said firmly. He nodded again. He grabbed his books and headed for the door. But her voice stopped him one last time. "Remember, Troy. I always get what I want."

**TBC

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What do you think? Is that what you thought would happen? If you have any advice to make my writing better, then press the little blue button and let me know!


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or the lyrics used at the beginning of this chapter. The lyrics are from the song "Gold Dust Woman" by Fleetwood Mac.

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Chapter Five

**Did she make you cry?**

**Make you break down?**

**Shatter your illusions of love?**

**And is it over now? Do you know how**

**to pick up the pieces and go home?**

**Same Day (Monday, September 25, 2006)**

'_Remember, Troy, I always get what I want.' _That _sentence_ rang over and over again in Troy's head as he walked home that day after school. He never went to ask his father for a ride home, he needed some time to himself for right now. He really needed to think about his current situation.

_'What am I going to do? I don't want to do this, not with her. This is wrong on so many levels. But if I don't, I'm putting my family and friends in danger. I know I haven't exactly been nice to my friends as of late, but that doesn't mean I don't care about what happens to them. What can she do to them? How does she know so much about me?'_

He was so confused. He had no idea what to do. He felt as if he had to protect his friends, but he couldn't help but feel that they wouldn't want him to do this just to protect them. _'What am I going to do?'_

Twenty minutes later, Troy finally arrived home. He quietly opened the door and walked to the stairs, hoping his mother would not hear him.

"Troy, is that you?" she called. She turned the corner from inside the kitchen. "Where have you been?"

"I had to do some research in the library," he lied.

"Oh," Mrs. Bolton said, not fully believing him. "Did you walk home?" he nodded. "Your dad was staying late today; you could have had him drive you home."

"I felt I needed the exercise," he responded.

She nodded as Troy headed up stairs to his room. As soon as he got in his room he dropped his backpack on the ground and plopped on his bed. He reached over on his nightstand, took a couple of aspirin out of the bottle and popped them in his mouth – his head was pounding like crazy. It was one of those headaches where it feels like someone is punching you from the inside of your head. He buried his face in his pillow and soon began drifting off to sleep.

At around 6:00 that night, the phone rang. Mrs. Bolton answered it. "Hello?" she asked.

"Um, Mrs. Bolton," the girl on the other end of phone said, "my name is Joey. Is Troy there?"

_'Joey? Nina's daughter? What is she doing calling here? She and Troy haven't spoken in years.' _"Yeah, he's up in his room," she answered, "hold on a moment and I'll go get him," she said as she ascended the stairs.

"Thanks," Joey said.

She lightly knocked on Troy's door. "Troy?" she called. She opened the door. "Troy?" She saw that he was sprawled out on his bed, facing away from her.

"What?" he called.

"Sorry if I woke you," she said, "but there's a girl named Joey on the phone for you. Do you want me to tell her you'll call back later?"

Troy sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes. "No," he said, "just tell her to come over." His mom nodded and was about to close the door. "Hey Mom," he continued.

"Yes?"

"This is gonna sound stupid, but can you tell her that I'm out of chocolate, please?" he asked.

"Sure, Troy," she said. When she closed the door, he lied back down on his bed. He knew what he said sounded stupid, but he had to make sure Joey knew that he really wanted her there with him. That was something they came up with a while ago, a way of letting the other one know that they needed them, without actually saying 'I need you,' and sounding needy and desperate. It became their thing a few months ago, when Joey was home alone for the weekend.

_Flashback_

"_Joey, I'm leaving!" Nina called to her daughter. Joey came rushing down the stairs to say goodbye to her mother. "Bye Mom," she said as she hugged her. _

_Nina grabbed her coat of the rack and put it on. She searched her purse for her keys and pulled them out. "Now, I'm going to be gone until Monday," she said, "there's plenty of food in the kitchen, and you have my cell number if you need anything."_

_"Yes," she said, "I'll be fine Mom."_

_"I know you will," she said as she pulled the door open. "Lock this door as soon as I'm gone."_

_"I will. I always do." she answered. And with that, her mother finally closed the door and headed for her car, satisfied that her daughter would be safe for the weekend._

_Later that day, Saturday, Joey began to feel uneasy. She knew she was just being paranoid, but she didn't care, she called Troy anyway._

_"Hey there babe," he answered._

_"Hi," she said._

_"Is something wrong?" he asked._

_"No,"_

_"Are you sure?"_

_"Yeah," she said, "Listen, this will probably sound dumb, but I ran out of chocolate, and I'm craving some real bad right now. Do you think you could bring me some and then we could hang out?"_

_"Sure," he responded quickly, "I'll be over there in ten minutes."_

_"Thanks, bye." she said._

_"Bye."_

_He was over there in ten minutes, just as he said he would be. They went up to her room and they shared the chocolate that he had brought for her. She turned on the TV and curled up next to him, resting her head on his chest. He put his hand on her back. They both could lie like that forever and not say one word, they were just, content, with each other's company. Although, Troy did want to ask her again if anything was wrong, cause he could sense that there was something she wasn't telling him. He decided to let it go – if she wanted him to know, she would tell him – eventually. _

_An hour later, they both were startled by a loud crack of thunder. They could hear the raindrops clattering against the roof. The electric blinked on and off a few times. Before it went out completely, Joey got a flashlight and a lamp out of her closet. Seconds after she sat back down, the electric went out for good. She flipped the lamp on and set it on her nightstand. _

_"I guess I'll be staying here a while longer," Troy said, "not that I mind." he added quickly. She smiled at him as he leaned in to kiss her. He gently laid her down on the bed and continued the kiss. He positioned himself on top of her so as not to hurt her. She reached for his shirt and pulled it over his head, throwing it to the floor. He did the same with her shirt. Just as she was reaching for the button to his jeans, he heard a sound from inside the hallway. He jumped up quickly._

_"What was that?" he asked as he reached for the lamp. _

_"What was what?" she asked. Troy held up the lamp towards the open bedroom door._

_"I heard something, from outside in the hall," he said._

_"I didn't hear anything," she said._

_He wasn't seeing anything either. "I guess I'm just a little jumpy." He was about to set the lamp back on the nightstand when he swore he saw two eyes glaring at him from the doorway. He jumped to his feet quickly. He saw a shadow walk away from the doorway. "Did you see that?" he whispered quietly but nervously. _

_"See what?" she asked. She had no idea what Troy was talking about. _

_"There's someone in the hall," he whispered._

_Her eyes became wide. 'I knew it.' she thought. Luckily he wasn't focusing the light on her, so he had no clue how she reacted. Troy began walking toward the doorway. "Where are you going?" she asked nervously as she followed him._

_"Stay here," he said as he held his hand out to stop her, "I'm going to see what it was."_

_She couldn't let him go out there. There was no way to know what might happen. "Are you crazy? The house is pitch black; the person could have a knife or a gun . . ."_

_"I don't care," he said defiantly, "I have to protect you."_

_"Then just close the door and lock it," she suggested, "I would feel safer knowing that you are here in this room with me."_

_He remained silent for a moment. "Listen, Joey. This is hard to explain but I have to do this," he paused, "I love you and it's my job to protect you."_

_She stood dumbfounded for a second. She couldn't believe what she had heard. "I love you too, which is why I can't let you go out there. If something happened to you it would be my fault."_

_Silence, again. Troy looked at the doorway. "Please, Troy." He finally closed the door and locked it. He took her hand and led her back to her bed. He remained there with her for the rest of the weekend._

_End Flashback_

Troy smiled-that was the first time that they said they loved each other. He missed how it used to be; now he feared that things would never be the same again.

A few minutes later, there was a light knocking on the door. "Hey, there," Joey said as she entered the room.

"Hey," Troy said lightly. They said nothing more. Joey curled up next to him on his bed. She wanted to know what was wrong, but she didn't want to upset him. When one of them uses their 'secret code,' that lets the other one know that they don't want to talk, they just need someone there to comfort them. However, he could tell her anything, if he wanted to.

After lying together for over thirty minutes, Troy was the first one to break the silence. "Joey," he started, "you know I love you, right?"

She looked at him, puzzled. "Yeah," she said anxiously, "I love you too," she paused, "Why?"

_'Because I agreed to start cheating on you today. That warped bitch is going to hurt you and everyone else if I don't. I want to make sure that what I'm about to do is worth it. I don't know what will happen to us. I'm sorry but there's nothing else I can do.'_

"I just," he stumbled on the words, "I've been kind of moody lately, snapping at you when you're just concerned about me. I just wanted to make sure you know how I feel about you, 'cause I haven't actually said it in a while."

"I never once thought that you didn't care about me," she said quietly. "I was always more worried about you."

_'You should tell her. Tell her you idiot.'_ He lifted his head up and kissed her very lightly on the lips. He lingered there for a moment. When he pulled away he looked into her brown eyes, brushed her cheek softly, and rested his forehead against hers. "That's why I love you," he whispered. He gently kissed her on the tip of her nose. "I love you so much."

_'You're my best friend. I know I can tell you anything and you wouldn't judge me. You'd just listen. But I can't tell you this. I can't let anything bad happen. I really wish I could tell you everything, but I can't. I just can't.'_

**TBC**

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The thing with the chocolate was mainly just a way to get out of typing a conversation with Troy and Joey over the phone. My friends and I make up random codes like that so we don't have to talk to or say something to certain people, so I just used that. Please review.**


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical.**

**To paradise-maker786: I sent a reply to answer your question from your review, but since the site is being all screwy right now, you probably didn't get it. Whenever the site's working I'll try to send it again. Oh, and thanks for reviewing.

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Chapter Six

**Monday, October 23, 2006**

Latin. The class Troy dreaded more than anything in the world. He felt dirty every time he noticed Miss Hammond staring at him with eyes that were probably undressing him at that very moment. He dreaded those fateful words that he would inevitably hear before the end of nearly every class, "See me after class, Troy," or "Troy, detention!" He was flabbergasted that no one seemed suspicious of all the attention he was receiving from her.

But of course no one was suspicious. Troy was always acting up in her class, so who could blame her for giving him so much detention. Hell, he was lucky that she didn't tell Principal Matsui and have him suspended. But, then again, no one knew that Miss Hammond had instructed Troy to give her a reason for her to give him detention. Talk back, disrupt class, cuss, show up late, don't do homework, refuse to participate in class, anything, just as long as she didn't come out looking like the bad guy.

He usually chose to show up late. Very late, a half hour or more. It made sense to him. Detention was only supposed to be fifteen minutes, so by being late he didn't have to spend as much time with her. Of course she would usually make him stay later that he was supposed to, but there was nothing he could do about that. It didn't matter anyway. His parents had no idea how much detention he was getting, so he usually lied and said he was at Joey's or he had to homework at the library, something.

It's been nearly a month since the whole thing started. Ever since he has been spending less and less time with Joey – he couldn't stand to look at her, to look at her and know what he's doing to her, how much she would be hurt if she found out. But he was doing this for her, his friends, and his family. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if something happened to them and he could have prevented it.

When he was with her, he did everything he could to convince her nothing was wrong. Luckily for him, she didn't harp on it too much. He told her that he was just nervous because he was preparing for basketball and that this year is very important because he needs to impress college scouts in order to get a scholarship. It seemed as if she believed him. He never told her that he had detention either; he usually said he was going to practice in the gym. Lucky him that she was so trusting, she never went to the gym to check on him.

So right now, he was walking toward his Latin class, almost forty minutes late. As he neared the door he could hear her teaching. "To find the stem of the verb," she was saying, "you must drop the –re from the second form of the verb."

He slowly opened the door. Every eye was on him. "So you finally decide to grace us with your presence, Mr. Bolton?" she said sarcastically. He smiled egotistically. "Well, I hope you can grace me with your presence later today in detention."

"Of course," he replied arrogantly. The entire class noticed her eyes narrow. Only Troy noticed the small smile that quickly disappeared before she continued on with class.

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Later that day, after serving 'detention' with Miss Hammond, Troy decided to go to the gym to work on his game. He decided he would shoot free throws. He bounced the basketball a few times, aimed the ball for the backboard, and shot. The ball didn't even hit the rim. He picked the ball up when it rolled back to him. He readied himself for another shot. This time the ball bounced of the rim and back to him again.

Several shots later, and not a single ball had went in the basket. Needless to say he was very frustrated. He couldn't concentrate. He couldn't get Miss Hammond out of his mind. She had a hold of him, she didn't even have to be around him physically, but he could feel her presence anywhere he went. He threw the ball across the court, not noticing that Jason and Zeke had just entered the gymnasium.

He sat down on the free throw line and buried his face in his hands. He was so close to crying, but he would not allow the tears to fall. Jason and Zeke slowly walked toward him. "Troy?" Jason said softly.

Troy jerked his head up abruptly. He didn't know anyone was here. "Are you okay?" Zeke asked as they came closer to him.

"I'm fine," he said as he got to his feet.

"You sure?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said annoyed.

"Troy, if there's something wrong, you can tell us," Zeke added.

"I said I'm fine," Troy said angrily, trying to refrain from yelling. He looked at his watch, and, pretending he was in a hurry, said sarcastically, "Sorry I can't stay and chit chat with you guys, but I'm supposed to be home right now." It wasn't a total lie. But before Jason or Zeke had a chance to respond, Troy bolted for the door.

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"Where were you?" Jack Bolton demanded as soon as his son walked through the door.

"I was just practicing in the gym," he answered.

"No, you were not," Jack said raising his voice, "I was in the gym after school today and you never showed up."

"I went to Joey's house first, and then I went back to the gym for a little while," he lied.

Jack was seething. "Quit lying Troy!"

Troy was perplexed. "I'm not lying," he lied again.

"Oh really," Jack responded, "If you were with Joey, then why did she call here an hour ago to ask where you were?"

_'Shit!' _Troy didn't answer. He couldn't think of a way to explain himself out of this one. "Troy Alexander Bolton!" his father bellowed, "you better start explaining right now!"

He still didn't answer. Jack tried waiting, but he was growing impatient. "That's it! You're grounded!" he shouted finally.

"What?" Troy shouted after remaining silent for the past few minutes.

"Don't question me!" his dad yelled, "Go to your room, now!" Troy glared at his father before stomping up the stairs and slamming the door to his room. He threw his things roughly down onto the floor and plopped onto his bed.

_'What's his damn problem? I lied, so what. What teenage boy has never lied to his parents? It's not the end of the word. If he knew what I was doing to protect him, he would act a little nicer to me.'_

He was interrupted from his thoughts by the sound of cell phone ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at it. 'Joey Calling' it said. He couldn't talk to her. He couldn't talk to anyone. He was so upset right now, who knows what he might inadvertently blurt out. He couldn't take any chances. He threw the cell phone across the room.

**TBC**

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This chapter was mainly to explain how the whole Troy/teacher relationship is going to work, just so you know. And please review. They can make someone's day.**


	8. Chapter 7

**Hey, thanks for the reviews! In honor of High School Musical: The Dance Along airing tonight, I decided to post another chapter. lol.**

**I have a couple of random questions. Does anyone else love Alan (It's hard to believe, that I couldn't sneeze)? And does Lucas Grabeel remind anyone else of Jesse McCartney? He reminds me of him, I don't know why though. **

**The bold italics are a flashback of Troy's.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical, the original version or the dance-along. sighs I also don't own the lyrics at the beginning of the chapter. They're from the song "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana.

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Chapter Seven

**With the lights out, it's less dangerous**

**Here we are now**

**Entertain us**

**I feel stupid and contagious**

**Here we are now**

**Friday, October 27, 2006**

Troy was in the bathroom of his house, taking what is now his third shower in the past thirty minutes. He had promised Joey that he would go over to her house today, but he couldn't go there right now, not like this, not with the scent of _her_ all over his body. When he finished his shower and was satisfied that he was as clean as he was going to get, he dried himself off, put on a LA Lakers t-shirt, cargo shorts, and some old tennis shoes and headed on over to Joey's house

As he approached her house, he saw her in her front yard shooting basketball. He snuck up on her and stole the ball from her as she was preparing to shoot.

"Hey," she said, "you actually came." she sounded surprised.

He shot the ball, and for the first time in a while, it actually went in the basket. "Of course I came," he said, somewhat hurt that she didn't actually expect him to come. "Why wouldn't I want to see my beautiful girlfriend?" He put his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. She kept her arms at her side.

"I don't know, why haven't you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You're always staying late after school, and half the time during school you won't talk to me. . ."

"I told you," he started, "I'm just stressed about basketball starting soon."

She sighed. "I understand that. But you stressed out over the musical and didn't ignore me."

"Yeah, but music isn't my future, basketball is."

"It just seems as there more to it than that. . ."

"There isn't," he stated flatly.

"Alright," she finally gave up, "but you know you can tell me if something else is bothering you."

He barely heard what she said. Just then, _she_ had driven by. _'Is she stalking me? Why does she show up everywhere I go? Why can't I get her out of my head?'_

"Troy?"

_**"Why are you doing this?" he asked as she began kissing his neck. **_

_**"Why wouldn't I? You're very handsome, Troy," she whispered seductively in his ear.**_

_**He gulped nervously. He still didn't understand. "But why me?" he asked, his voice nearly cracking, "There are a lot of good looking guys, why not someone else? Why not someone who doesn't already have a girlfriend?" **_

_**'Why not someone your own age?' he mumbled inaudibly. **_

_**"You need to quit worrying about your girlfriend!" she snapped. She pulled away from him to look him in the eyes. "I'm a woman, I can please you in ways your little girlfriend couldn't even imagine."**_

_**"I don't care!" he said angrily. "How do you even know her anyway?"**_

_**"That doesn't matter!" she screamed, "How many times to I have to tell you that?"**_

_**"Until you actually answer it," he responded mockingly. His head was then smashed into the wall behind him from the blow of her slap. The sound from the slap cracked throughout the room like a gunshot. **_

_**This time he didn't put his hand to his face. He didn't want her to know that she had hurt him physically. She already knew that she was hurting him emotionally; he didn't want to give her the extra satisfaction of knowing how much power she held over him. **_

_**"Do not talk back to me again, do you understand?" she spat out. "If you ever do it again, your little girlfriend will pay the price."**_

_**He could feel tears welling up in his eyes, but he wouldn't let them fall, not in front of her. "Alright fine, I'm sorry." he choked out. "I'm sorry; I'll do whatever you want from now on. Just leave her out of this."**_

_**"Good boy," she said satisfied that she had gotten her way once again. She began kissing him again, this time on the lips. She forced her tongue inside his mouth. Troy tensed up like a board. She put her hands up his shirt, attempting to pull it off without breaking the kiss, but she had to do.**_

_**Once she had gotten his shirt off, she threw it down, and forced Troy to sit in the chair at her desk. She straddled him and hungrily kissed him again, all the while quickly moving her hand down to his pants. She rested her hand there for a moment before bringing down the other to begin work on his belt buckle. Though he was still angry and scared, Troy began to relax. He gave up, there was nothing else to he could do. She pulled his pants down excitedly, for she knew that she had him right where she wanted him.**_

"Troy?"

"Troy, are you listening? What's the matter?" she asked again, waving a hand in front of his face. He jerked away, as if he thought she was going to hit him. He sat down on the ground, burying his face in his hands.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she sat next to him, putting her arm around him. "Whatever it is, I'm here for you, ok?" she said as she tried to kiss him, but he pulled away again.

When he lifted his head up, she noticed that a bruise was starting to form on his cheek. "How'd you get that bruise?" He turned away.

"Troy?" she pleaded.

"Troy, look at me," she gently took his face in her hands, "please talk to me."

This time, he couldn't stop the tears from falling. They were burning his eyes; he'd been holding them in for so long. He didn't try to hide the fact that they were now cascading down his face. Maybe he needed to let it all out. He needed her to comfort him, to remind him again that what he was doing for her and everyone else was worth it.

She didn't say anything. She was in shock. The next thing she knew Troy was crying into her shoulder, his tears seeping through the shirt she was wearing.

The anxiousness she was feeling was making her feel nauseous-she'd never seen him like this before, so emotional, and she had no clue what was making him feel this way. She couldn't say anything to make feel better, had no idea what to say. So she just sat there, holding him in her arms, and gently kissed the top of his head.

_'Please tell me what's wrong, Troy. I can't keep going on this like this. I get sick from worrying about you so much. I need somebody's help, somebody who may be able to help me get some answers.'_

**TBC**

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Did I write Troy's flashback ok? I tried to do it as tastefully as possible, but considering the situation, it was kind of hard. Please review. I appreciate them so much.**


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